


it'll be different now, the second time around

by SoulJelly



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Best DJ girlfriends, Episode Tag, F/F, Female Characters, Fluff, Gen, Minor Character(s), POV Minor Character, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 14:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13413021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulJelly/pseuds/SoulJelly
Summary: 'Then the girl with the pink hair walks in, and everything Lise thought she knew about, well,everything, flies right out of the third-floor window.'A story of a young DJ in love.Episode tag for #72 'Crash Course' and #89 'Music Soothes the Savage Beast'.





	it'll be different now, the second time around

**Author's Note:**

> [21/05/18] Slight changes to the ending as I try to play more loosely with canon; also doubles as an edit which I feel works to complement the sequel better.

_-the first time-_

Lise is ready to take this competition by storm, to walk away with that Subdigitals opening act promised to her – when she closes her eyes against the studio lights she can see her name in neon –

Then the girl with the pink hair walks in, and everything Lise thought she knew about, well, _everything_ , flies right out of the third-floor window.

Because… because the girl now peering curiously around the room - relaxing in the knowledge that she’s found the right place and smiling around at all of them - is _gorgeous_ , practically glowing in the simple pleasure of being here. Only the tight grip of her hand on her bag suggests nerves. Lise’s hands, twisted in her lap, speak volumes about hers.

That’s when Lise hears the girl’s name for the first time – “ _Aelita, these are the other contestants”_ – and it roars in Lise’s ears like a bass drum echo.

Lise’s voice comes out of her like the last rush of air from a dying balloon – “ _Hi”_ \- a breathy single syllable, as she stumbles awkwardly to her feet. Aelita smiles at her, and of course Lise looks her absolute best for the audition, but she finds herself suddenly worrying about her hair, patting down loose strands of teal, tightening her pigtails. She wishes she’d worn a little more makeup, or something.

Realising she’s on her feet, Lise reaches out a hand for Aelita to shake.

“Hello, I’m Aelita, nice to meet you,” the girl says.

“Hi,” Lise says, with a little more conviction this time.

The smile on Aelita’s face never falters. She is instant warmth and sunshine, someone who, Lise thinks, must live their life grateful for every moment in a way so many people strive for but can’t quite manage. They make small talk about the journey here and the instruments in the corners, the whole time Lise wishing she had something more interesting to say.

As the boy – whose name Lise has already forgotten – takes his place at the decks, Aelita slides into his spot, making a perch of the sofa cushion. Lise clasps her hands together over her knees. If she moves _just so_ she thinks, they’ll be touching, but she has no right to want to press her knee beside that of a girl she’s known all of five minutes.

Lise has always been impulsive. From moving halfway across France to study music, to the tattoos snaking over her hips, to entering this Subdigitals contest in the first place.

Developing a head-over-heels crush on her competitor is… well, Lise can’t say she’s all that surprised at herself.

Aelita is pleasant, cute, if a little distracted. They both are, really, thinking about the audition and what a great opportunity this could be for them. They talk more in fits and bursts, about school and fashion and favourite bands. Aelita has good taste, if a little eclectic (“my cousin introduced me to a lot of different stuff” she explains, shrugging), and Lise jots down the names of a few bands she might like.

“All right Aelita, you’re up,” says Chris at last.

The music Aelita spins from the decks makes Lise think of video games and parties under the stars and how robots might feel if they fell in love.

She closes her eyes, hands tapping out a soft rhythm on her thighs, listens. The music washes over Lise like warm honey and glitter. She wants to know everything – Aelita’s stylistic influences, her favourite colour, her last name.

But then Lise blinks and Aelita is gone, out of the door without a word, just the memory of her music left behind.

Despite the dramatic exit, Aelita wins the competition.

Lise is unsurprised.

 

 

 

 

_(-the second time-)_

 

“Aelita!”

Okay, Lise admits, she’s laying on the faux-surprise a little thickly. The alternative, though – making it plain she’s been hanging around Aelita’s dressing room for the last twenty minutes – is far too embarrassing. She’s steeled herself, waiting for Aelita’s friends to leave, and once the last of the odd troupe has filed out, she walks up to the door.

Aelita stands framed in the doorway. She blinks huge, kohl-lined eyes. 

They stare at one another for a long moment, Lise taking in Aelita (she is all metallic sheen and slim, pale shoulders, the crease of her mouth exactly how Lise remembers) and then she registers Aelita’s confusion.

“Oh, you probably don’t remember me… I’m Lise.”

Aelita frowns. Lise bites her lip against a wave of crushing disappointment, but a second later, Aelita’s face lights up.

“From the-“ 

“From the audition, yes!” Aelita finishes in tandem, taking Lise’s hands in hers and pulling her towards her in a fond embrace. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little… “

She doesn’t have to say it; Lise is close enough to see that beneath the makeup Aelita is pale, and when she turns over the other girl’s hands in hers she sees her nails bitten to the quick.

“Pre-concert nerves, huh?” says Lise.

Aelita nods. “Something like that.”

“It happens to all of us. Once you get out there, you’ll be fine.”

Aelita doesn’t look so sure. In fact she’s so far from the smiling girl Lise first met that it’s disconcerting.

“Do you want to talk about it?”.

And that is how they find themselves, with a few scant minutes before the show begins, sitting on the floor with Aelita’s head against Lise’s shoulder, her turning into the comfort of a touch that, she confesses, she should be getting from someone else.

“—And he just hasn’t show up?” Lise asks, astonished.

Aelita shrugs, bites her lip in a way that shouldn’t send thrills through Lise the way it does. Her fists clench in anger at this boy she’s never met, who would rather be at his computer than with this girl who Lise has known is amazing since the instant she saw her. 

“Well,” Lise says indignant, “For his sake, he’d better show up soon. If I were him, I wouldn’t dream of missing this… or you.”

Aelita blinks at her, the soft creases of her face brightening in the smallest of hopeful smiles. “That’s so kind of you to say, Lise, thank you. I wish Jeremie was as good at words as you, or at least as good as he is with computers.”

“Hey, look, just forget about him for a while.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Aelita mumbles.

Lise places her hands lightly on Aelita’s shoulders and turns her to face her. “Don’t sulk like that. You can do it, Aelita. Your music is amazing. You look like a rock star. He’s just a stupid boy, put him out of your mind for now.”

“I just-“

Lise will remind herself later (before there isn’t a ‘later’) that she has always been impulsive. That really, she shouldn’t be all that surprised at herself.

The soft muffled sound of Aelita’s surprise is swallowed by the closing gap between their lips; the kiss that Lise offers her is like a rose petal on silk. On instinct Aelita presses back and just for a moment the entire world narrows down to this – Jeremie and XANA and nerves and frustration all swallowed up by the wave of this singular motion.

They pull away, slowly.

Aelita is flushed, a little dazed, raising one hand to her lips as though she cannot believe they are hers. She opens her mouth in search of words that do not come, but her hands linger where they have come to rest on Lise’s thighs and most certainly do not pull away.

“Forget about him,” Lise says again. "See, you can." And then she stands up and runs away before her impulsivity draws her into anything else as stupid as that.

“And good luck!” 

 

 

Before the white light claims them, those memories are the final thing to cross Lise’s mind.

 

 

 

_-the second time-_

Aelita walks out of her dressing room with her arm hooked around that of a blond boy with glasses. Lise has been lingering for an embarrassing amount of time, waiting for everyone to leave, but now she thinks she may have missed her chance.

Aelita and the boy are in animated conversation but there is a telltale sense of distraction in the way her eyes flicker, almost as though she is searching for something. It’s shadowy where Lise stands, out of the glare of the corridor lights; Aelita can’t possibly know she is there, but Lise thinks she really will miss her chance soon if she doesn’t make a move. 

“Aelita,” she says warmly. Then, “Oh! You probably don’t remember me-“

 “Lise!” Aelita finishes, beaming. “From the audition. It’s so good to see you.”

Butterflies beat a rhythm against Lise’s ribcage, face warm as she leans into Aelita’s embrace.

“I couldn’t miss it for the world,” she says. “I’m so jealous it’s not me up there but, well, you were the better DJ. Your work is amazing.”

“Thank you.” Aelita looks truly humbled. The boy next to her lays a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling at Lise in quiet agreement. Lise shuffles a little, hands hooked through the loops of her jeans.

“How you feeling about it all? Not too nervous I hope?”

“A little,” Aelita replies, “but it’s all right. My friends are all here, so I know it’ll be fine no matter what.” 

“Right! Well, I just wanted to wish you good luck. Maybe…” Lise presses hopefully, “We can meet up after the show?”

“That’d be great. We should swap phone numbers too.”

“I’d like that.”

In seconds, before anything else can be said, Sophie has appeared. With her headset askew and a clipboard tucked under one arm, she's barely reached them before she's reminding Aelita that she’s going to be on stage in “two minutes – so be prepared!”

Aelita squeezes Jeremie’s hand, flashes Lise another heart-stopping smile.

 “I should go. You two, go and find Yumi and the others and get a good spot in the crowd! I’ll see you later!”

Pink curls bouncing, Aelita takes off, the echoing click of boots down the corridor heralding her departure. Lise and Jeremie wait a moment. They stare at the space she has just left with fondness, faces betraying their emotions exactly the same.

Lise heaves a wistful sigh.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [semie78](http://archiveofourown.org/users/semie78) drew a super cute piece of art inspired by this fic, which can be found on her tumblr [here](http://semie78.tumblr.com/post/169979393819/then-the-girl-with-the-pink-hair-walks-in-and)!


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